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Trump nominates Carson to lead U.S. housing, urban policy

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2016-12-05washingtonpost.com

If confirmed by the Senate, Carson will be enlisted to serve as Trump's unofficial envoy to African Americans and to lead the charge to repair what Trump has described as America's blighted and dangerous inner cities, a dystopian, racially charged image criticized as frequently at odds with reality. He will also lead Trump's efforts in an arena where Trump and members of his family have been accused of flouting the law in their own business ventures.

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Carson does not have specific experience with the activities of HUD, which manages low-income housing assistance, facilitates financing for homeownership and administers fair-housing programs. But he has a documented position on fair-housing policies that has advocates nervous about what protections a Trump administration might dismantle -- particularly for racial desegregation.

Last year, then-candidate Carson forcefully criticized an Obama administration rule requiring cities and towns to publicly report racial bias in their housing patterns, saying it would "fundamentally change" communities by requiring affordable housing to be built in wealthier neighborhoods.

"These government-engineered attempts to legislate racial equality create consequences that often make matters worse," Carson wrote in the Washington Times. "There are reasonable ways to use housing policy to enhance the opportunities available to lower-income citizens, but based on the history of failed socialist experiments in this country, entrusting the government to get it right can prove downright dangerous."


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